Abstract
In this dissertation, I explore how educators who experience culturally relevant/responsive professional development geared toward Indigenous education perceive the benefits to their identity as an educator, to their students, and to their profession. Informed by Tribal Critical Race Theory (TribalCrit) (Brayboy, 2005) and Transformational Indigenous Praxis Model (TIPM) (Pewewardy, 2018) I examine stages for developing critical consciousness in Indigenous education using participant interviews, environmental observations, and document reviews. Findings reveal three main themes about the process of learning needed to desettle and transform educators serving Indigenous youth. Themes include the necessary establishment of community connections, essential understandings of place, and holistic and ongoing professional development opportunities. Participants went through a process of generative learning that led to disruptions in their preconceptions, stereotypes, prejudices, and assumptions about Indigenous peoples and experiences. Implications highlight the need for specialized professional development for educators of Indigenous youth and offer transformational desettling as a critical element of educator growth. Transformation occurs as educators become more conscious through a scaffolded approach to critical thinking with the goal of actualizing decolonial education through individual educator commitment and a collective commitment towards sustained practices.